


Of Souls and Memories

by our_winter



Category: Jurassic World (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-19 22:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4763963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/our_winter/pseuds/our_winter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everybody is born with a clock on their wrist. The clock counts the time till you find your soulmate, when you met the person you’re meant to be the clock hits zero and you’ll have your perfect match. However, if your soulmate dies before you met, the place where the clock used to be turns into a scarred mark, and as like some kind of twisted joke from the destiny, you see your soulmate’s face when him or her die. Some people try to find someone else, even knowing that it will never be the same as it would be with their soulmate, they still try to be happy.</p><p>Zach was twelve when his soulmate died.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And as I said before: I'm not a native English and I don't have a beta, so any mistakes are mine, please tell me if you find anything, so I can fix it (:

Everybody is born with a clock on their wrist. The clock counts the time till you find your soulmate, when you met the person you’re meant to be the clock hits zero and you’ll have your perfect match. However, if your soulmate dies before you met, the place where the clock used to be turns into a scarred mark, and as like some kind of twisted joke from the destiny, you see your soulmate’s face when him or her die. Some people try to find someone else, even knowing that it will never be the same as it would be with their soulmate, they still try to be happy.

Zach was twelve when his soulmate died.

_He is sitting in the couch glancing at his clock, the clock marks: 05:06:89:32:17:08. Most of people are eager to meet their soulmate and so is he, he knows that looking constantly at it will not make the time pass faster, but he can’t help himself. Yesterday, a girl on his class found her soulmate and Zach can’t forget the way she smiled and looked at the other boy, they just stared at each other like nothing else in the world existed, like in that moment life was perfect._

_He traces the numbers with his fingertips wondering what it would feel like to meet your soulmate, a childish smile playing on his lips while imagining what he or she would be like. A kind hearted person? A brave one? Someone who would cuddle in the couch with him in the cold days and watch movies under a pile of blankets? Or play video games? Maybe someone who knows how to play an instrument? He loves music._

_His wrist start to burn and Zach cringes in pain, Gray looks at him from his spot beside Zach with wide eyes._

_“What’s wrong?”_

_Zach can’t contain a scream, he holds his wrist and watches in horror as the numbers blurry and disappears turning into an angry red scar. The pain is not just on his arm, is like his soul is being ripped apart, like life is leaving him. He feels completely and utterly alone, like all the happiness has been drained from the world. Tears are running down his cheeks and when he blinks a face appears behind his eyelids. It’s a man with bright green eyes and a warm smile, his face is tanned and his hair a strange mix of brown and red._

_“Mom!”_

_Gray calls and stands, his little hands cradle Zach’s face while the older tries to curl into a ball. Their mom comes running and kneels in front of Zach, her blue eyes wide with worry._

_“Honey, what’s happening?”_

_With a sob, Zach extends his arm and their mom gaps in shock and horror, she cradles Zach’s wrist between her hands and looks at him with pity in her eyes._

_“Oh sweet, I’m so sorry.”_

_“Is he…?”_

_“He is dead.”_

_Zach feels like he dies in that moment too._

He is running for his life and Gray’s, dragging his little brother with him while the pteranodons try to kill them all, when he sees a flash of red and stares as a guy kisses his aunt, a moment latter he feels like one of the dinosaurs is ripping his heart apart. His soulmate, the face that hunts his worst nightmares is kissing his aunt. All of the air leaves Zach’s lungs and he needs to lean into Gray to stop himself from falling, he shuts his eyes squeezing his eyelids hard and shaking his head, it’s just a trick of his mind. _He’s dead. He’s been dead for five years_. He remembers himself, but when he opens his eyes again, the man is still there, even closer now. His chest and shoulders are broad, his hair is a little longer than Zach remembers and he has a beard now. Everything else is just like the image burned into his memory. He looks at the ground and keeps his eyes there, all his body tenses when the man speaks. His voice is warm and has a tone of command. Zach thinks he would follow him everywhere, he already had followed him in death.

He tries to make sense of what is happening, of what this could mean. _There is_ a person, who looks like others, but this man doesn’t _look_ like Zach’s dead soulmate, he is _exactly_ like Zach’s dead soulmate. Owen, this is how Claire called him. Owen leads them to the raptors’ paddock and the boy locks himself into a truck and just waits for him to go away, to disappear and makes Zach’s heart stop pounding with longing. He doesn’t need to worry about this man’s life, but he can’t stop dread to crawl up his veins while he watches the raptors turn to Owen and everything going into shit. He shuts the small window that separates him and Gray from his aunt tablet, at least he hadn’t had to see his soulmate die the first time, he doesn’t need to see his doppelganger dying now.

He was better, his life was almost normal and his nightmares had decreased to one per week, he would smile genuinely sometimes at Gray and stopped rubbing his scar; his mother had found him more than once with a bloodied wrist, tears running down his face while he tried to rip the scar off his skin. But the damned thing was always there, always remembering him of what he had lost, as if the hollow in his chest wasn’t enough. When he was young, his eyes were a bright shade of brown, now they’re so dark that they’re almost black. His mother would sometimes spend hours staring at his old pictures, crying and looking to what her son was once.

The psychologist told his parents that what he was going through was normal and that he was too young, he would recover, someday. However, days and months passed by and he was not better, he saw the worry on his mother’s face, the dark bags under her eyes that reflected his, she usually woke with his screams at night and hold him while he trembled, the pain inside of him pulsing so strong that was like someone was burning him alive. So Zach started to lie, he buried his face on his pillow in the night to muffle his screams, he tried to smile and talk with other people, and that worked, his mother started to sleep again and the bags in her eyes were gone, she didn’t comment on his own bags and that he was not eating, but things were better.

He is pulled out of his thoughts as the trunk swings when something heavy hits its side, he holds Gray behind him and stares at the doors, his aunt screams and a man open the doors, grabbing Zach’s ankle and pulling him out of the trunk.

“Help me!”

The bloodied man screams desperately when a raptor bites his neck and drags them both to the ground.

“Zach!”

Gray shouts but their aunt is speeding up the vehicle and driving away, Zach stays as still as he can, not even breathing as the raptor devours the man and his screams slowly fade. Everything is silent, his heart is beating so loud on his ears that he is sure that the dinosaur can hear him. He stays there for so long that his limbs start to feel numb, the cold mud turning his skin blue, then there’s a sound, a low roar coming from far away, he stiffens, but as the sound comes closer he can identifies it as a motorcycle, opening his eyes carefully he looks around, but there’s no sign of the raptor, Zach stands trembling and dirty in the cold night air and a moment latter the motorcycle comes into view, doesn’t matter that is dark he would recognize that features even if the moonlight hadn’t hit his face when he parked the bike. Owen stops in front of him and Zach is careful to avoid looking at him.

“Are you ok kid?”

His voice sends a shiver down Zach’s spine that he tries to convince himself that is from the cold. He nods.

“Where is your aunt?”

He cringes. Right, Owen’s mate, his aunt. His voice is small and barely audible.

“She and Gray went to the center of the park.”

“Why are you here?”

“A raptor pulled me out of the truck.”

“Ok, mount. We need to get out of here.”

He feels like all the air had been knocked out of him.

“What?”

“Mount. Or you want to walk to the park?”

With eyes trained in the ground he mounts behind the man, putting as much distance between them as the seat allows him.

“You’ll want to hold on me.”

Zach just shakes his head, even from this distance he can feels the warmth of Owen’s body, and he really, really doesn’t want to know what it is like to touch him. When he doesn’t move the man just shrugs and start the motorcycle again, Zach yelps and tries to hold on something to prevents himself from falling but there’s nothing but the man, the chill air hits his already cold body making him shiver uncontrollably, and when Owen makes a sharp curve he has to circles his arms around the man’s waist. It’s not his skin – Thanks God – but it still sends a shiver along his body, the warmth calming him and coaxing him to lean closer, to relax and let his soulmate makes him feel safe. _He is not my soulmate!_ With a shrug he lets go of the man and leans away from him, if Owen perceives anything he doesn’t say a word about it.

When they are nearing the central of control they see a helicopter flying away, lights shining into the night, Owen stops the motorcycle making him bump into him, and Zach immediately backs away, he thinks about shouting to them but he doesn’t know if there’s any dinosaur near them. The man turns off the motorcycle.

“They’ll come back to get us, we just need to…”

There’s a loud roar and they both run to hide in one of the shops. The Indominus Rex walks slowly along the main street, things trip in the shelves and fall to the ground, Zach stops breathing and follows Owen to a door that leads them to a basement, locking the door behind them, and they climb down the stairs. They don’t dare to turn the lights on, they barely dare to breath, a few rays of moonlight come from the window illuminating the room. Zach walks to the far corner of the room, staying as away from Owen as he can get but the man just follows him and sits in a sleep bag beside of the boy.

“Are you hurt?”

Now that they settled down, Zach’s pains are starting to catch up with him. He can feel a bruise forming on his cheek where his face hit the ground when the man pulled him out of the truck, and looking down he can see a long cut on his arm. He sighs. He has to clean this before the wound infects.

“No.”

Owen doesn’t miss even a heartbeat to catch his lie.

“You’re lying.”

“How do you…?”

He trails off, the raptors’ trainer moves closer.

“Let me look at it.”

“Stay away from me!”

Zach hisses cradling his arm into his chest, the older man looks at him surprised for a moment and then sighs.

“Ok kid, you’re on your own.”

The boy let’s out a breath and stands to look for something to clean his wound. He finds a cloth and a bottle of alcohol, the liquid burn his open wound making Zach hiss, but that’s ok, the pain distracts him from the presence of the man just a few feet away. He is aware of every move the other do, every breath, every time he scratches his beard as out of habit; he makes Zach feel safe just for being in the same room. He feels like he could lie down and sleep for weeks, his entire body is heavy, eyelids falling even if he tries to keep them open. _Is that’s ok to sleep, right?_ He walks back to his sleep bag and curls into a small ball, if he sleeps, he doesn’t need to look at Owen or even acknowledge that he is in the same room, he can forget that he is there. Zach turns his back at the raptor’s trainer and let his tiredness sink in, now that the rush of adrenaline fades he finally sees how close to die he had been the entire day, since the moment he stepped inside the gyrosphere till they closed the door of the basement. As he closes his eyes he wonders if it would not be better if he had died that day.

_The sun is shining, sky blue and the leaves are green and gold where rays of sun catch them. Zach is smiling, he feels safe and happier than he can ever remember being. He’s lying in the grass with eyes closed, there’s someone hovering above him and he doesn’t need to open his eyes to know who it is._

_“Hey, time to wake up.”_

_His soulmate murmurs on his ear and kisses his temple. Strange, usually his soulmate doesn’t talk. But he likes the sound, his voice is deep and warm, comforting, makes Zach wants to curl against him and stay there. His smile widens and he turns, hiding his face into his arms._

_“Oh, that’s how it is?”_

_His soulmate asks with clear amusement on his voice, he cradles Zach’s hips and starts to disperse pecks along his nape that send shivers down his body, but he stays immobile otherwise, big calloused hands slide down his shirt and starts to tickle him, Zach can’t contain his laugh as he tries to roll out of the man’s reach, but his soulmate is much heavier than him and keeps him pinned easily, he squirms laughing breathless._

_“Please…” A roll of laughter. “Stop…”_

_“Will you wake up now?”_

_His hands are steady on Zach’s waist now and he huffs amused._

_“I’m already wake.”_

_His soulmate lets him turn till they’re facing each other, and the man smiles warmly down at him brushing strands of dark hair out of his eyes. Zach’s breathe catches on his throat. He will never het used at how beautiful the man is. His tanned skin, his muscled body, the soft brown reddish strands of his hair, his perfect smile, his green bright eyes that look at Zach like he is the best thing that exists in the entire world. He bents down and disperse soft kisses on Zach’s entire face, on his forehead, chin, cheeks, nose, jaw, temples and eyelids, but never on his lips, he never kisses Zach’s mouth. He reaches for his soulmate’s collar to pull him into a kiss when a sound freeze them both, the man’s eyes wide and a moment latter a raptor is closing its mouth around his neck and dragging him away from Zach. He screams and tries to reach him but he feels like locked in place, his body can’t move and he can just watch as the man’s eyes lose their sparkle; he feels like falling apart, the pain is so intense that it feels like its physical._

_“Take me, not him! Take me!”_

_The raptor doesn’t turn to him and instead cracks his soulmate neck with a sickening sound, Zach feels like he is going to throw up._

“No!”

“Zach. Zach, wake up. Everything is ok. You’re safe.”

He opens his eyes and blinks the tears away, just to face his nightmare staring back at him with worried eyes. He takes a moment to knowledge that one of the man’s hands is cradling his face, it feels warm and calloused and so fucking comforting, a sob scape his lips.

“Please, stay away from me.”

Owen looks at him in horror and completely lost, but he takes his hand away and lets Zach curl into a ball, tears run down his cheeks and his shoulders tremble with the force of his sobs.

“What I did to you?”

He doesn’t answer, maybe if he ignores him, the man will give up.

“What’s wrong?”

He waits a minute before talking again, his voice is so soft that makes the boy’s chest feels like it’s been ripped apart.

“Zach, talk with me.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because everything hurts!”

He shouts and stands, he thinks about getting the hell out of there, just to be reminded that he can’t.

“I know that you are scared, but we are going to be fine.”

He gives Owen a sarcastic smile without looking at the man.

“Being eaten by a dinosaur would be a good thing now.”

Zach can feel Owen staring at him, a frown forming between his eyebrows.

“What is your problem kid?”

 _You!_ _My life! This fucking island! This fucking scar! The hole inside of my chest! The loneliness! The pain! Everything!_ He thinks about shouting this all, but settles to just walking away from the man. He needs to let all of this out or he is going to destroy himself, so he sits in the far corner of the basement and circles his arms around his legs, resting his forehead on his knees and letting his entire body shake with the force of his sobs. He is not sure if he can survive much longer.

 

 

***

 

 

Zach wakes to a sore body and swollen eyes, he groans as he stands, they’ve been stuck in the basement for three days and contrary to Owen’s belief, his aunt haven’t sent the rescue yet. They had not talked, Owen had tried to start a conversation during the first day, but Zach haven’t answered him, he just stayed as far away as he can from the man.

Owen’s voice makes him feels like his blood turn into hot honey, makes him want to curl against him and never leave. Zach want’s to punch a wall because this is a fucking silly joke, the universe must hate him in levels he can’t even imagine. Before he had a face to hunt his nights, now he has a voice, a body and a touch; he can still feel the touch of Owen’s hands on his face, the warmth and security of them, the way they’re so big that they reach from Zach’s chin till his nape, cradling his entire face. He is always aware of where Owen is, like a sixth sense, like something deep inside of him that told him to go to his soulmate. But Owen _is not his soulmate!_

So, it is a complete surprise when he turns from the shelve from where he is taking a protein bar, and finds Owen standing right behind of him , the boy jumps hitting his back and head hard in the shelve. _From where had he came from? How had I’d not heard him coming?_ Zach winces in pain and lifts his hand to his hurt head, the arm that is trapped in the cloth to hide his cut.

“Ouch.”

From the corner of his eye he sees Owen reaching for him.

“Don’t touch me!”

He hisses but before he can walks away, Owen grabs his arm and takes the cloth away to study his injury, the boy struggles but the grip on his arm is firm.

“Let me go.”

Warmth start to spread along his body, a feeling of comfort and safety fitting on his chest, and that fucking hurts because he doesn’t need to know how it feels, doesn’t need one more thing to hunt him.

“Please.”

He sobs. Owen hesitates for a moment before letting him go, Zach stumbles away from the man, chest constricting painfully.

“Why do you hate me?”

His voice seems like he is frowning but Zach doesn’t dare looking at him, he takes a deep steadying breath.

“I don’t.” The boy takes a deep breath before sighing. “I don’t hate you.”

“So why?”

Zach closes his eyes and swallows his pain. This man doesn’t deserve this, he has nothing to do with what happened to him, it’s not his fault. The boy feels like all his strength had leave him and he sits on the ground hugging his legs close, his voice is barely audible when he speaks.

“You remember me of someone.”

They stay is silence for a long time before Owen speaks again, voice softly.

“Your soulmate?”

Zach’s throat closes and he can’t speak, so he just nods.

“How old were you when he died?”

“Twelve.”

“Have you ever met him?”

He just shakes his head, tears are burning his eyes and every breath hurts.

“So how you know?”

“I saw him, when he…” He takes a deep breath. “When he died. For some reason you see your soulmate’s face when they die. I think it’s just to give you a face to morn.”

Zach hugs his legs closer, burying his face on his knees.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I’m still sorry.”

 

 

***

 

 

It’s been a week and no one had come to rescue them, Zach thinks he is starting to go insane, locked in this goddamn basement. He is not avoiding Owen anymore and the man is not pushing him into conversation, but there’s no other way to pass the time, so they sit – away, Zach can talk with him but he doesn’t want to touch him – and talk, the warm calm cadence of Owen’s voice soothing his worries, sometimes he even catches himself smiling at something the older man said. When he heard Owen laughing for the first time he felt like all the air had been knocked out of his lungs, and he had been left staring at the floor wanting to hear that sound again and again.

Zach looks down at his dirty hands, the cut on his arm is better, not completely healed, but much better; he feels gross and shuts his eyes from the sight of the same grey walls that he had been staring for the last two hours.

“I would kill for a shower.”

He mumbles letting his head fall against the wall.

“You would probably be killed while taking one.”

Owen chuckles making him smile.

“I feel gross.”

The boy protests and he hear Owen shifting but doesn’t open his eyes.

“They’re not going to come get us, are they?”

His voice is soft and Owen doesn’t answer for a long time, but then he says:

“Come on.”

“What?”

“Let’s get a look outside.”

“You said we would be killed.”

He points with a small smile. Owen’s voice still sends shivers along his body but he is getting used to it.

“Well, if we stay here the food and water will end sometime and we will need to get out. So why not?”

Zach tries to find arguments to fight him and finds none. Sure, just the thought of the Indominus Rex shakes him, but what other choice they have? If no one comes to rescue them, they will have to live someway. Sighing he stands and follow Owen to the stairs, the man presses his ear against the steel door for a moment before pushing it open.

There’s chaos everywhere. Tables and chairs turned down, blood and dirty splashed on the ground and walls, food and drinks left half consumed, shoes and hats on the ground. There are corpses too. People half eaten and splashed with blood. A woman stares at the sky with wide blank eyes, her neck is torn open, a puddle of blood under her; a man with two glasses on his hands and dark glasses is leaning against a door, like he was going to try to hide inside the building; a little girl with a yellow dress and pigtails is lying peacefully on the ground, if it was not for her missing leg it would look like she was sleeping.

Zach thinks he is going to throw up, he takes deep breaths and looks away. He can only see Owen’s back from where the man is searching one of the shops for food and water, the boy walks to one of the restaurants avoiding the corpses on the ground, he lets out a sigh of relief when he finds a sink with flooding water, he splashes some on his face and scrubs his arm carefully with soap, the water that flood in the sink from his body is almost black, with blood, dirty and sweat, he puts his head under the tap and let the water run through his hair. The cold liquid helps to put his thoughts on order. It’s been a week and yet no one came to see if they were still alive, probably his parents are already mourning him, burying a body that doesn’t exists.

The boy doesn’t know how long he stays there, but when he closes the tap he feels a little less gross, not clean, but a little better. He takes some knives that are on the top of the table, not sure if they could really help, he walks back outside. The sun is almost blinding, he would suppose that it is almost midday, but from someone who lived his entire life in Maddison he couldn’t tell; native birds sing far in the jungle, the air is humid and smells like sea and forest, the corpses on the sun are starting to smell terrible bad and he wonders if they can do something with them, although he doesn’t know how long they can stay outside before a dinosaur spots them.

Walking silent back to where he last saw Owen Zach tries to think on some way for them to get out of this goddamn island. _Maybe there is still a boat on the beach? Maybe the energy in the control center is still on?_ The boy chuckles sadly to himself. His entire life he never made plans for the future, he never really thought about what he wanted to do or what career he liked, usually Zach just put his headphones on and forget the world, when the music is playing he can forget how fucked up his life is. He knows by experience and research that people whom lost their soulmates usually stay alone, they isolate themselves or their hearts turn into something so black that they’re almost not even human anymore. There’s few cases likes his, where the soulmate died when the other was so young, just one guy turned out to be happy, there’s a girl who killed herself, another guy went mad and other girl just disappeared. He is not going to deny that the thought of dying is not as terrifying as it should be. _What would he be afraid of?_ He has no one who really needs him. Gray has his parents and one day he will have his soulmate, and his parents have each other and Gray. There’s no one who would be torn apart by losing him, he doesn’t mean anything to anybody. Maybe a dinosaur should eat him and end his pathetic life.

He turns his head to the sound of something falling to the ground and freezes on the spot. A raptor is standing less than twenty feet away from him, her smart eyes piercing him, she lets out a shriek and he cringes. _Maybe a death less painful?_ Three other raptors appear behind her, they all study the boy who barely breaths, he can hear his heart beating on his ears, hands shaking, and then Owen is there pushing the boy behind him, putting himself between Zach and the raptors.

“Blue, calm down!”

The command on Owen’s voice is undeniable, the raptors attention turns to him, although they keep stepping closer waving their tails in the air.

“Charlie, I’m seeing you!” He turns to the other raptor. “Delta, not even one more step.”

One of them snaps.

“Echo, what just I said?!”

Zach can barely see them over Owen’s shoulder, the man is so big that he almost blocks him completely. However, they still keep coming. The two closer to them start to circle Owen and the man steps back, his large hand closing around Zach’s wrist.

“I’m sorry.”

Owen whispers and Zach tenses looking wide eyed at the man.

“What?”

The raptors’ trainer walks slowly till he is standing behind Zach and circles his arms around the boy’s waist, he buries his face into his nape, rubbing his beard against his skin. Zach stops breathing, his legs tremble and if Owen’s arm wasn’t around his waist he would have fallen to the ground. The man’s entire length is pressed against his back while he keeps rubbing his face along the skin of the boy’s neck. He wants to melt into the man’s embrace, even if there are four raptors looking hungrily at them, he feels completely safe there. He is _home_. Zach tries to get away from Owen, but the man’s arms are made of steel and hold him easily.

“Shh.”

He whispers against the boy’s ear making him shake into his arms, he feels the tip of Owen’s nose brushing along his neck before he bites into the juncture of Zach’s neck and shoulder, the younger whimpers and leans against Owen for support, a jolt of pleasure runs along his body and through half-closed eyelids he can see the raptors looking interestedly at them. The raptors’ trainer runs his tongue soothingly on the teeth mark, but he doesn’t let go of Zach, what the boy is grateful for, he doesn’t think he can stand by himself.

“He is mine Blue, are you hearing me? _Mine._ ”

Blue slowly approaches them, she is looking curiously at them both, tilting her head to one side and then the other, she stops right in front of Zach, and if the boy wasn’t so high from his proximity of Owen he would have stopped breathing, Blue sniffles him for a moment, they both staring expectantly at her, she growls softly on her throat before stepping back, one by one the other raptors sniffle the boy and growl. Zach trembles when one of them, Echo he thinks, brushes her snout on his neck, Owen’s arms go tense around him and they both let out a relieved breath when she steps back. He feels the man’s forehead resting in the back of his head.

“They’re not going to attack you anymore.”

“Why?”

“I marked you as mine and as I’m the alpha they can’t kill you.”

“Thank you…?”

Zach doesn’t mean for his words to sound as a question, but they do. They watch as the raptors turn their backs to them and start nuzzling things.

“Can you let me go now?”

The boy asks softly, it takes Owen a few seconds to finally release him, but he finally do. Zach takes slow, deep breaths trying to stead his racing heart. _Oh God, I’m so fucked._ He thinks bitterly as he starts to walk back to the basement, the place where Owen had bite pulsing as a living thing.


	2. Chapter 2

They start a kind of routine after that. They go out, look for what they need under the raptors gaze and go back to the basement. Zach never thought he would say that, but at each day that passes he would feel more at easy around the raptors. He doesn’t turn his back to them and avoid as most as he can to go outside without Owen, but the girls – as Owen affectionately call them – doesn’t try to hurt him not even once, one of them, Echo he thinks, has even let him caress her. He took one of the caps that were on the ground and put it on his head to keep his hair from falling on his eyes, he still would kill for a long nice hot shower, but he is content with the fast sink baths he take.

They couldn’t let their guard down. The Indominus Rex still is in somewhere in the island, and Zach doesn’t know if he could scape her a second time. He still wakes shaking most of the nights with images of the Indominus, the raptors, his soulmate and Owen; the man didn’t tried to approach him after that first time, he usually stood on his side of the room watching while the boy trembled and whimpered, sometimes Zach could swear he started to walk to him or to say something, but stopped the moment the boy curled into himself. Looking at Owen is almost like a living nightmare, his face kind and open, encouraging Zach to thrown himself into his arms. He had come to terms that it’s not his fault, it’s not Owen’s fault that he looks exactly like Zach’s dead soulmate, but it hurts like hell to look at him, to see the features that haunted him for five years now with a voice and new expressions. Once he caught Owen looking at him with amusement and fondness, and he had started to press into the cut on his arm till the pain throbbed up his arm and distracted him from the pain inside. He thanks God for the grace that his aunt doesn’t spent time with them, otherwise he doesn’t know how he could handle to see them kissing and being a couple in front of him.

Today is one of the days where he wakes shaking, a scream ready to escape from his lips, he rocks back and forth till he stops seeing images of the Indominus’ jaw clenching behind him, her roar so loud that makes even his bones shake.

“I would do anything for a hamburger.”

“Me too.”

They had found cans of soup two days ago and had been eating that since then, just the thought of the soup makes his stomach turn into knots, but it’s not like they have much choice, the perishable food was already rotten when they started their incursions. Zach had almost cried in joy the day before when Owen handed him a chocolate bar.

“Maybe we should make a dinosaur barbecue.”

He murmurs, drying the dampness of his face with the back of his hand, Owen chuckles.

“And attract every carnivore in this island to here. A genius idea.”

Zach rolls his eyes.

“The genius is Gray, not me.”

“Is he?”

The boy nods, not sure if Owen is looking at him.

“Yeah, he is so smart, already skipped four years in school. He will probably be graduating with me.”

“What you think about doing in college?”

Zach shifts uncomfortably, fumbling with the hem of his shirt. He doesn’t want to admit to this man how much of a failure he is.

“I don’t know.”

“There’s plant of time for you to figure it out. I went to the navy because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I don’t recommend you to do that, but there is always an alternative.”

The man’s words easy something inside Zach’s chest and it’s like he can breathe a little easier, he offer Owen a small smile, even if he doesn’t know if he sees it.

“Yeah, I think there is.”

“What’s your favorite food?”

The question catches him unprepared. Zach thought Owen would fall silent, he takes a moment to answer.

“Pizza, a huge pepperoni pizza.”

He almost can _feel_ the raptors’ trainer rolling his eyes.

“Typical.”

“What? Don’t tell me you don’t like pizza!”

The younger asks in disbelief.

“I like pizza, but it’s not my favorite food.”

Zach gives him a lopsided smile.

“And what it would be?”

“Barbecue.”

He nods, he already had thought of Owen as a barbecue man. It suits him.

“I like to cook.”

He doesn’t know why he says that, but it seems important to share things with this man, he looks so interested at the few words Zach exchange with him, always open to hear and to talk. Owen is a good person. Behind the hard Indiana Jones exterior he learned that the man is kind hearted, has a sense of humor, likes to get up early in the mornings and go talk with his girls, he scratches the beard of his jaw when he’s thinking and his nape when he’s distressed, he hates milk, he’s an actual child, always joking and teasing, making Zach laugh, he is warm too, the boy had learned that from the few times they had touched, his muscles are firm and look like steel beneath the tanned skin, his hands are big and calloused, and he feels like a _fucking_ furnace. Sometimes Zach just wanted to curl against him, to just stay close, to feel again that warm sentiment spread on his chest like when he had hold him. Some nights he wakes with the feeling of Owen’s breath against his neck, lips brushing his skin and arms holding him tight.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

The boy nods, he can’t see Owen since the cap is hiding his face from view, but he can still sense his gaze upon him.

“It calms me. It’s something easy to do, you follow the recipe and everything goes ok. And the kitchen is always so warm and smells good. When I’m cooking is like nothing could go wrong, it’s easy.”

The man huffs.

“Tell this by yourself, every time I tried to cook something it burned.”

Zach laughs.

“How can you manage that?”

“I don’t know! It just is ok in one minute and in the next my kitchen is catching fire.”

He laughs again and the feeling is so good that he does it one more time, the boy wipes the tears from his eyes and smile at the man.

“I could teach you someday.”

 _God, what is he saying?_ This is a mistake, they can’t see each other after this ends and he opens his mouth to say that he was joking, but Owen is faster than him, his voice warm, making Zach’s heart skip a beat.

“I would like that.”

 _What is he supposed to say to that?_ The tenderness in the man’s voice makes his mind shut down, it’s just like one of his nightmares, but he wants so much to believe that that is real, that this man feels something for him too. He stands and walks to the door, he needs to breathe, needs to get out of here.

“Zach?”

The younger stops but doesn’t turn around, they stay quiet for what looks like an eternity but must have been just a few seconds, finally Owen sighs.

“Nothing.”

He walks out without looking back.

Echo is waiting for him beside the shop they use as hideout, she looks at the boy and tilts her head like she feels that something is wrong, he gives her a sad smile.

“Life sucks girl, you’re lucky that yours is pretty simple. Hunt, sleep and protect.”

She coos him and nuzzles his neck where the bruise Owen gave him is starting to fade.

“Yeah, I’m his. In more ways than I should have.”

Zach sighs and leans his head against the raptor’s neck, she stays quiet just letting him breathe her in, something that isn’t Owen, that isn’t their basement, she smells like leather and soil. Echo snaps her jaw and he lifts his head to see the other raptors looking at them from a few feet away. Since they had found their hideout the raptors usually stayed around, curled in the door of the shop or on the shops around, but they never seemed to go far away from them, what Zach is thankful for, it’s pretty much easier for them to hear if the Indominus is closer than it is for him or Owen, even if sometimes he wonders if the man is completely human. The girls step closer slowly, like afraid that Echo would snap to them and Zach runs his hands soothing down her neck, they nuzzle his hands and his neck like always and after a moment the four of them curl on the ground, they look expectantly at him and takes the boy a few seconds to understand what they want, he lies on the ground and rests his head on the warmth of Echo’s belly, their breaths lull him to sleep.

 

 

***

 

 

Zach buries his face into something warm and comfortable, he feels relaxed and easy just sinking into the arms holding him. _Wait. Arms?_ He opens his eyes to the sight of a chest dressed in a dirty button up light blue shirt, Owen doesn’t seem to be having any problem carrying him the stairs down to the basement, he closes his eyes again and pretend that he is asleep when the man stops beside his sleep bag. The raptors’ trainer places him carefully in the cold bag, he can swear he feels fingers caressing his hair, the cap is gone and even if his eyes are closed he can see that it’s night. _How long had he’d been out sleeping with the girls?_ The man stays sit beside him for a long time, he can feel his stare on his face and is grateful that the darkness would cover his blush, the boy stays completely still as Owen stands and walks back to his side of the basement. Zach can’t go back to sleep, he keeps staring at the ceiling, with a sigh he stands and goes grab a bottle of water, they had drank most of the water, so the ones left are in the highest shelves, he stands on the tip of his toes trying to grab a bottle but can’t reach it.

“Shit”

The boy mutters again, he doesn’t see Owen coming, but a moment latter he hands Zach a bottle of water.

“Thanks.”

He takes a long swig, Owen doesn’t step back, he stays closer, not uncomfortably closer, but closer than he usually do, the younger takes another sip, studying his shoes and says the first thing that comes to his mind.

“I’m happy you found your soulmate.”

“Hum?”

“Claire.”

“Oh, she’s not my soulmate.”

“But you were kissing her.”

He can feel Owen’s smile.

“People kiss for a lot of reasons. A person doesn’t need to be your soulmate for you to kiss them, you know?”

No, he doesn’t. Zach never felt like kissing anyone, not when he would be thinking about someone he would never have. When the silence prolonged for too long, he can say that Owen’s eyes widened a little.

“You never…?”

He shakes his head.

“Oh.” Owen rubs his wrist for a moment in the place where his clock should be. “I don’t have a soulmate, don’t have a clock.”

“I’m sorry.”

He really means that, Zach knows pretty well what is like to don’t have your other half.

“It’s ok, I think it’s better doesn’t having one than losing this person.”

Zach can’t say he disagrees, he hears Owen sighing but doesn’t dare to lift his eyes to see what’s bothering the man.

“Can you look at me?”

Owen seems so frustrated and Zach wonders if he is running his hand through his hair or scratching his nape.

“Why?”

His voice is small.

“I want to know what it’s like. I want to see you.”

He feels himself recoiling, arms bracing his torso to stop it from falling apart.

“Owen I…”

“Just once.”

His voice is so soft. Zach wonders if his soulmate would sound like that when he told him he loved him, when he murmured good morning and hugged Zach closer. He can’t resist too, because even if it hurts, his eyes want to drink in the sight of the man again. So he looks straight to Owen’s face and his breath stops. He’s just as beautiful as the first time Zach saw him, just dirtier and with the moonlight lighting him. He wants to throw himself into the man’s arms and forget that he is ruined beyond repair. For a moment while he stares into that bright green eyes, he feels like the world is right, like he is fully again, like he can breath and his lungs doesn’t weight a thousand pounds, like his heart doesn’t skip with pain but with joy, like he would laugh without a worry for the first time in five years. And then everything come rushing back and he makes a strangled noisy trying to catch his breath, he looks away and braces himself into the concrete wall behind him, his vision blur and he can’t breathe, his body starts to shake and he fall to his knees. He had plant of panic attacks on his life to know when he is having one, he knows he has to calm his breath but he just can’t. The air doesn’t seem to go to his lungs, dark spots start to dance on his vision.

“Zach.” Owen cradles his face, his pretty features contorted with worry. “Zach, you need to breath.”

He tries to tell him that he can’t, but just a whimper leave his lips. He’s shaking so bad that he thinks he is going to disintegrate into small pieces of himself, and that’s when Owen kisses him, warm soft lips pressing against his, Zach’s mind goes blank, he stares wide eyed as the man leans back and stares at him with worried eyes.

“Are you ok?”

The only word that leaves his lips is:

“Why?”

“I needed you to stop thinking, and I was not going to slap you.”

Zach thinks that maybe that could be better, he licks his lips and closes his eyes letting Owen’s hands ground him for a moment. Just a moment, he can give himself a moment. The man is running calming circles on his temples with his thumbs.

“Zach, look at me”

He takes deep, steady breaths before finally opening his eyes. Owen is staring at him with an unreadable look in his eyes, his face soft.

“Zach I…”

And then they hear it. A low roar coming from far away, like the sound of bullets being fired consecutively. They stare wide eyed at each other for a moment before scrambling to their feet and running outside. The girls are hissing and waving their tails angrily at the helicopter that lands in the middle of the street, guns pointed to them.

“Don’t fire!”

Owen shouts raising his hands to the men with the weapons, they don’t lower their weapons but they don’t fire too, what Zach thinks is a good sign. Echo walks forward till she is standing between him and the helicopter, he places his hands on her skin and tries to soothe her, she shrieks to a man that tries to step closer to Zach.

“Shh, it’s ok. They’re not going to hurt us.”

All the raptors have trained eyes on the men and Owen that stepped closer to talk with one of them. The boy studies their faces looking for someone familiar, but they’re all soldiers, the wind from the helices is throwing his hair on his eyes and he hides his face behind Echo’s neck. The men are looking at him like he is crazy, but he ignores them, the ground tremble beneath his feet and for a moment he thinks that is just his imagination, although when he looks up one of the men is staring wide eyed at something behind him, turning around he sees one of his nightmares staring back at him. The Indominus Rex stands at the end of the street, waving her tail slowly, like she’s thinking what she will have first for dinner, what probably she is. The raptors snarl and turn to her, snapping their jaws threateningly.

“Go! Go! Go!”

The boy hears one of the soldiers shouting and the helicopter rises to the night sky leaving them and three soldiers on the ground. Owen is by his side in one second, grabbing his arm and pulling Zach behind him, he looks at the girls before whistling. The raptors run straight to the massive dinosaur, the Indominus roar when Charlie and Delta sink their claws and teeth on her flesh. Owen drags Zach to one of the shops and the soldiers follow, weapons still aiming to the dinosaurs.

“Please, don’t shoot my raptors.”

The men don’t reply, eyes too wide and frightened to really pay attention to anything other than the fight in front of them. Blue jumps up and attacks the Indominus’ neck, Echo goes to her big feet. They’re all breathing hard, Owen’s hand grabbing the boy’s arm in a vice like grip, one of the men shoots and that’s when the Indominus spots them inside the shop, she roars and advances to them, Zach runs with Owen, leaving the build a second before she smashes it. One of the men screams and Zach looks over his shoulder to see the dinosaur throwing him up and swallowing in one go, she shakes her body to dislodge the raptors, Charlie and Echo roll to the ground but stands and attack her again. However, it’s time enough for her to bite Delta’s tail and throw her against a building, he feels Owen cringe beside him. Delta falls to the ground and don’t get up. They run to another shop, Zach can hear the helicopter above them. It would be a perfect, starry night if it wasn’t for the dinosaur trying to kill them.

“What are we going to do?”

One of the soldiers ask looking at Owen, he looks at them and then at Zach.

“We kill this thing.”

“How?”

Something crashes outside and the Indominus roar, Zach cringes and looks at the scene. The girls are still fighting against the massive dinosaur, but he can see that they’re becoming weary, he looks back at the raptors’ trainer when he sighs.

“I don’t know.”

“You have weapons. Shoot her!”

Zach exclaims.

“The containment team already tried that, doesn’t work.”

“Maybe another dinosaur could fight her?”

Owen shakes his head.

“There’s no other dinosaur big enough to…”

He trails off.

“What?”

“The T-Rex.”

A moment of silence involves them while the idea sinks in.

“I’ll go.”

The three men look at Zach, the raptors’ trainer is already shaking his head.

“No.”

Zach looks right into his green eyes and smile softly.

“The raptors need you here and I don’t know how to shoot.”

Owen opens his mouth again and Zach knows what he is going to say. The unsaid words hang in the air. _You’re going to die._

“It’s ok.”

A loud crash makes all of them jump and Zach runs out of the shop before Owen can say anything, tears burn on his eyes at the sight of Echo lying bloodied on the ground, she is making small sounds and Zach wants so bad to run at her. Blue and Charlie are still fighting with the Indominus, Blue bites her snout and takes out a piece of flesh, the dinosaur roars angrily and shakes her head till Blue slips out of her. That’s when the Indominus spots him, he is motionless in the middle of the street and now the dinosaur is moving straight to him, if Zach wasn’t so terrified he would swear he saw recognition in her eyes, he turns and start to run. He can feel every time her big feet touch the ground, making it tremble beneath his feet, the boy looks around frantically to any place where he could hide. _I’m going to die._ Now the tears are running freely down his face, he sobs because he is afraid of dying, he is afraid of being alone, he don’t want to die before telling Owen that he loves him. Not because he looks like his soulmate, but for the man that he is, for all the times he made Zach laugh and the way he made him feel like he meant something. Even with all the hurt, he had never felt so in peace as when he was with Owen.

The Indominus hits him, he feels the ground be knocked out of his feet and his body flying, his side hits one of the bamboo shops, a shot of pain running on his side and his head, through his blurred vision he can see the massive dinosaur walking to him.

“Zach!”

He hears Owen shouting and stands, his legs trembling and every breath burn, the Indominus open her mouth to swallow him and then a shriek make all of them look to the side, Echo and Blue come running to the dinosaur, they jump on her and bites her back and eyes, he can hear the men shooting too, opening her flesh with bullets, but she is not going to let him go so easily, even with the two raptors on her she keeps walking to him, her eyes hungry and wild. From the corner of his eyes he sees something glistening and turns to see the Mosasaurus tank. _Worked once, can work twice right?_ He keeps running and doesn’t stop when he reaches the fence that circles the tank, he jumps between the power lines and fall into the dark. The water is cold when he hits it, swallowing him easily, he comes back to the surface for air.

The Indominus hadn’t stopped before hitting the fence, and now it is half destroyed and the dinosaur is looking at him. _Would she jump?_ Before he can really think, the Mosasaurus jumps out of the water and bites her neck, the Indominus try to fight against her but the sea dinosaur’s grip is unbreakable, the Mosasaurus drags the Indominus to the tank and the water swallow they both, a giant wave rising when they dive. Water hits Zach from all the sides, he coughs and slowly makes his way back to the edge of the tank, the boy can distingue Owen’s form there and swims to him.

“Zach?”

The man asks the moment he comes into view, Owen fall to his knees and drags him out of the water, pressing him tightly against his body.

“Thank God you’re alive.”

Zach is shaking from the cold and the adrenaline, he melts into the embrace and closes his eyes holding Owen’s shirt tightly between his numb fingers.

“The girls are ok?”

He can feel Owen’s smile when he presses a kiss to the crown of his head.

“They’re fine, all of them. We’re all fine.”

The boy sighs relived, a soldier appears by their side and Zach can hear the helicopter closer again.

“We gotta go!”

The man shouts to be heard, Owen stands and helps Zach to his feet, his arm always around the boy’s shoulders. They make their way to the helicopter and Zach can see the girls looking expectantly at them, he wants to go to them, to say something, to let them smell him, but the soldiers are looking impatiently at them, so he follows Owen and sits beside him, a blanket is put around his shoulders and he nods gratefully at the soldier. The boy lets his head fall against the seat and looks through the window the island getting small and small, till it fade into the night.

 

 

***

 

 

It’s almost dawn when they finally arrive on, wherever they are. Claire comes running to the helicopter, she is clean again and wearing perfect tailored white clothes. She gives Zach an awkward hug.

“Are you ok?”

He nods and she walks straight to Owen, holding his collar and putting him down for a kiss. Zach thinks he’s going to throw up, his chest clenches painfully and he looks away, the remaining soldiers give them an inquisitive look before turning questioningly to Zach.

“I thought you two…”

Before he can finish, Zach’s mother is throwing her arms around him and pulling the boy into a hug tight.

“Mom.”

Zach gasps in pain when she presses his injured ribs.

“Are you ok? Oh my God, what is this? What happened?”

She touches the cut on his forehead, tears running down her face, Gray comes running too and circles his arms around Zach’s waist burying his face into his older brother’s stomach, he smiles and caresses his messy sand colored hair.

“Hey bro.”

His father comes into view then and hugs him too. He closes his eyes and lets them support him for a moment, hissing only when Gray tighten his grip too much around him.

“What happened?”

He looks down at his baby brother’s blue eyes and smiles.

“I hit a wall.”

“Is the Indominus dead?”

Zach squeezes his eyes shut for a moment at the memory of her teeth so close to him.

“Yeah, the Mosasaurus ate her.”

“Wow.” Gray’s eyes shine with interest. “Really?”

“Yeah, you lose all the best parts. The raptors fought against her too.”

He chuckles at Gray’s disappointed face.

“This is not fair.”

Zach messes with his brother’s already messed hair.

“I can tell you everything latter, ok?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Mr. Grady!”

Zach tenses at the sound of his mother’s voice and don’t turn to look at Owen, he doesn’t need to see him and his aunt interlaced like a happy couple.

“Thank you for keeping my son alive.”

There’s a moment when both of his parents shake Owen’s hand, but he keeps hugging Gray as an excuse to not look at him.

“Don’t need to thank, he did the same for me.”

Zach frowns. _He did? What is Owen talking about?_

“Did?”

Owen’s voice is soft when he replies.

“Yeah.”

 

 

***

 

 

Zach spends one hour in the shower, just letting the water run down his back, the liquid seeming to wash much more than just dirty and blood. The doctor that examined him said that he has three fractured ribs and that the cut on his head will heal soon; he had lost weight too, what was really expected since they just ate soup and protein bars for almost two weeks. His entire body had tensed when the doctor asked where his soulmate was, telling that having him or her around would help, Zach didn’t answer, he just showed the doctor his scarred wrist and the man had shut up.

He tried to ate, but after four bites of his beef and two of mashed potatoes he felt so full that he thought he was going to throw up. His mother talked to him, she spent two hours asking him what happened, how he was feeling, if he wanted anything, what she could do to help; he just told her that everything was fine and that he was going to be fine. Gray followed him to his room, sitting cross legged on Zach’s bed and asking question after question, spelling words faster than Zach’s exhausted brain could follow, finally he went to his own room and told Zach to sleep.

He tried. He really tried. His body felt drained and he could barely keep his eyes open even so his brain refused to shut down, he turned on the bed for half an hour before giving up and putting his headphones on. The music helped a lot, it put his body at easy and soon enough he was shaking his head in the rhythm of the calm playlist he had done. He knows why he can’t sleep: his room is too quiet, he grew used to sleep hearing Owen’s breathing in the other side of the room, his soft sighs, like he would snore sometimes when he was really annoyed, his presence, even when it made Zach’s chest curl with pain and couldn’t let him breath, he always knew that Owen was there, always at reach.

 _To where is he going now?_ Zach thinks with a sigh looking out of his window to the sight of a beach with white sand and calm waves. _Probably he will live with Aunt Claire somewhere._ Anywhere away from him. Maybe one day he will be a person good enough to be happy for his aunt and Owen, happy for them to have found each other. The boy lets out a humorless laugh. Who is he trying to fool? He will never be able to look at them and be happy. It’s funny because for the second time he lost the person he loves, when he never truly had any of them. He feels like ice is spreading on his chest. He is fucking afraid because he doesn’t want to be alone, even if he had been his whole life, always knowing that he would never have another person, but in these moments in the island, these precious moments when Owen’s warm laugh echoed through the basement or when his hands steadied Zach on this world, he hadn’t felt so alone. He hugs the blanket closer to his body, trying to banish the cold away, he hates cold.

There’s a soft knock on his door and he stands to open it, it’s probably his mom checking on him. Owen is standing on his doorway looking clean and like the most beautiful thing Zach has ever seen, he doesn’t divert his eyes this time, looking straight at the man’s perfect face. _What harm it can do now?_ The ex-raptors’ trainer gives him a tentatively smile and lifts up a box of pizza like an offering peace, Zach quirks an eyebrow at him.

“What are you doing here?”

Owen shrugs.

“Thought you would like to eat your favorite food. Can I come in?”

Zach steps aside opening more the door to let the man in. Owen walks into his room with the confidence that follow him everywhere, he places the pizza on the table and look through the window.

“Your view is better than mine.”

The younger gives him a lopsided smile.

“I was the bait to the Indominus Rex, I deserve the better view.”

However, Owen doesn’t laugh his shoulders tensing under the white shirt he is wearing.

“You could have died. God, you almost died.”

He scratches his nape in that nervously way that Zach grew used to.

“It’s ok.”

“It’s _not_ ok!”

The man shouts making Zach jump, he’d never saw him like this.

“If you died I would be as good as dead too.”

“Owen, what are you talking about?”

“I can’t stop thinking about kissing you, or touching you, or being around you or _you_.”

Zach’s heart skips a beat and he is sure he stops breathing in this exactly moment, the boy closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“Owen I… You… Please, don’t.”

“No, I’m not… God, I can’t stop thinking about you! Yesterday when I looked at you, when I really _saw_ you.” He stops and looks right into Zach’s eyes. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I can’t stop thinking about you and how much I want to kiss you and never let you go. But I didn’t say anything because I would never forgive myself if I hurt you. I was driving myself crazy in that fly, when you jumped into that tank I thought I had lost you.” Owen takes a deep breath before talking again. “There’s one thing I didn’t told you: five years ago I was in the navy and I died, my heart stopped for two minutes and then it started beating again, but that was time enough for my clock to disappear. I never thought I would find my soulmate, and when you told me your story I thought: What are the chances? But when I looked at you, when I saw your eyes. God, in that moment I knew you was the only person I would ever want in the world. You are the only person I want in the world. I didn’t say anything because I wanted to be sure, but I’m sure, God, I’m so sure.”

Zach’s heart is beating so hard he thinks it is going to jump out of his chest. He doesn’t know what to say. Owen is his soulmate, he is alive and he wants him. He is not alone anymore. He doesn’t think, he throws himself into the man’s arms and buries his face into his chest; Owen smells like the forest just after the rain, clean and fresh; his arms are strong and firm around the boy, holding him hard enough that’s not even a sheet of air can fit between them, but still carefully with Zach’s bruised ribs; he feels like all the cold leaves him, Owen is so warm that he is almost a furnace. His heart is jumping like crazy, a crazy and happy thing, the purest sentiment of joy spread on his chest, he feels so light that he thinks he could fly, a breathless chuckle leaves his lips and for the first time it doesn’t weight a thousand pounds, it’s completely free and happy. He’s complete and safe, for the first time the tears running down his face are from joy.

The man leans a little back and looks at him, Zach chuckles with watery eyes, Owen’s thumbs clear his tears away and he smiles softly at the boy, large hands cradling his face, he closes his hands around his wrists.

“I’m never going to lose you again.”

“You better don’t.”

They both chuckle and the ex-raptors’ trainer presses a kiss to his forehead, before leaning his own on Zach’s.

“God, you… I…”

He trails of and Zach feels a rush of emotions so strong that it’s almost painfully, must be the same feeling that is stealing Owen’s words.

“I know.”

He says softly, because he does. Owen doesn’t need to say anything, they’re soulmates, this is how things work. He leans into the man again, his tiredness finally picking up with him.

“Did you sleep?”

He just shakes his head, eyes already closing.

“I’m so tired Owen.”

“I’ll take care of you, ok?”

The boy nods and lets the man take him to the bed. The mattress is so big that five Zach’s could probably fit there easily. He curls into himself wondering what Owen is going to do, he doesn’t want the man to leave, but is not sure if he is allowed to ask him to stay; the question is answered for him when Owen slips behind him in the bed, he doesn’t touch Zach, maybe thinking that the boy needs more time to get used to him, but Zach had already waited too much for this man, he doesn’t want to waste any minute, doesn’t want to pass any unnecessary moment not touching him, feeling his skin, his warmth, his protectiveness. He turns and look at Owen, the ex-raptors’ trainer is watching him with an open face, his eyes saying that everything is ok, that Zach is allowed to do anything he wants; he slips closer, slowly getting closer and closer till his forehead is touching Owen’s biceps, he laces their finger together and marvel at the feeling of Owen’s calloused skin against his. Owen’s fingers are larger than his, covered with small pale scars, his sun burned skin is so dark against Zach’s pale one. He wants to ask Owen from where these came from, if they’re from the raptors or from the life he doesn’t remember, wants to know if Owen had ever missed him or wondered what he was like, if he thought about looking for him, if he likes his aunt, if he wants to go back to the island and see the girls.

But right now, he just sighs and closes his eyes. Owen is here, he is alive, they’re alive and the world could go to hell before anything tears them apart again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, this is the end of this story. I really hope you enjoyed it, and since it's my finals week it will be a while till I'll post again. See you soon guys, don't forget to tell me what you think (;

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this. I'm really sorry, but I'm really bad at writing angst, so I don't know if this is good. I'm going to post the other chapter next week (;


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